


Never Look Down Again

by Writingwife83



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Comfort, F/M, Friendship/Love, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-23
Updated: 2015-04-23
Packaged: 2018-03-25 10:55:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3807760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Writingwife83/pseuds/Writingwife83
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set after series 3. It's the third anniversary of TRF, and Sherlock and Molly run into each other when they both decide to visit the rooftop of Bart's hospital. It may end up being exactly what they both need. (Prompt based on Ok Go's song Skyscrapers)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Never Look Down Again

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TheArtStudentYouHate](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheArtStudentYouHate/gifts).



> Based on the song Skyscrapers by OK Go. This is for Theartstudentyouhate. Hope you enjoy it! ;D

Sherlock opened the metal door and immediately felt the strong wind whip him in the face. It was literally a chillingly similar day to that fateful one three years before.

He let the heavy door shut behind him, and slowly strolled along the rooftop toward the edge. It felt like a lifetime ago, and yet the memories were so vivid, it was almost like he could still feel Moriarty breathing down his neck…

Sherlock's head swung around as he heard the creak of the door open again. To his surprise, it was Molly Hooper who walked through the door and let it close behind her. As she turned and caught his eye, she looked a little surprised as well.

"Oh…hi. I didn't expect to see you here," she said, while walking over.

Sherlock avoided responding to her statement and instead directed the questioning at her. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I do work here." She laughed.

"Not typically on the rooftop, though. Bit unorthodox location for a post mortem."

Molly gave him a shy smile. "I'm sure you know why I'm here, Sherlock."

He turned his steady gaze back toward the horizon with its rows and rows of London buildings and drew a long slow breath.

"I suppose I do," he said quietly.

Molly followed his line vision and she shut her eyes for a moment as she felt the cool wind on her cheeks. She opened her eyes and was reminded that Sherlock was standing next to her, statue still and silent.

She cleared her throat. "Um…maybe you came here to be alone?" she prompted, wondering if she was intruding on some sort of reflective moment in his mind palace.

He looked over at her briefly, and then back at the skyline. "I haven't been back up here since that day three years ago. To be honest, your presence is far superior to the memories. I'm not sure why I even bothered to come up here in the first place," he muttered, sounding a little bitter.

"Well I don't pretend to know what you experienced or felt on that day three years ago, but I know what the outcome was. You saved a lot of people. You did exactly what you said you would. So, even though the actual memories of the experience aren't pleasant, the end result is something good to look back on."

"Perhaps so."

Molly glanced over the edge briefly, and immediately felt dizzy. She backed up a step and looked around as she spoke again.

"You should have seen this roof soon after that day. There was barely any room to walk around! So many people left flowers and cards and messages and things. Eventually the hospital blocked entrance to the roof. But some people still came and left things later. There were some things here on the first anniversary."

Sherlock's brow furrowed as he looked over at her. "But I…I died a fraud. Everybody knew that."

Molly smiled and shook her head. "That's what everybody heard, yes. But that doesn't mean that's what everybody believed. There were lots of people who still believed in you, for lots of reasons. People still loved you. And I'm not just talking about Anderson and his club!" She giggled.

Sherlock was at a loss for words. It was hard for him to believe that so many people staunchly refused to hate him, even in the face of all the evidence.

"You said, on the first anniversary…you came here then?" he asked hesitantly.

Molly nodded. "Of course. I came here a few times shortly after you left. And then I made a special trip on the first anniversary, and the second, and now I'm here again. I suppose it's become a bit of a tradition. And it wasn't any sort of risk to come here when everyone thought you were dead. I mean, nobody would bat an eye if I was up here crying- I mean, not that I was crying. Well, I suppose I did cry sometimes. You know, just…the normal amount." She looked away and rolled her eyes at herself.

"The normal amount?" Sherlock teased. "What is the 'normal amount' of crying in the case of the fake death of a friend?"

Molly smiled and gave him a gentle shove. "You know what I mean. You were gone…that wasn't fake."

"Did you never doubt, Molly?"

She whirled to face him with a frown, surprised at the question. "Why would you ask me that?"

"I never explained or defended myself. I simply told you what I was up against that night, and that I needed to get out of it while protecting my friends. I was gone for a long time. Did you never think that perhaps…I just wanted to disappear?"

"Sherlock, I never _asked_ you to explain or defend yourself. Don't you think there was a reason for that? I didn't need you to. I never doubted you, just like lots of other people didn't. I've known you long enough to believe you over some mad man. You're lots of things, but you're not a fake." Molly wrapped her arms around herself snuggly.

She drew a breath and spoke again. "I did doubt in some ways though. I doubted if you were ever going to come back. I even doubted if you were alive sometimes. I didn't think I'd ever know for sure if anything did happen to you."

"Mycroft would have told you," he answered quickly.

"Would he?"

Sherlock nodded. "I made him promise."

Molly examined his profile as he spoke.

"If anything had happened to me while away…if I had died, you would have been informed. It wouldn't have been fair to let you go on believing I was coming back. I know most people need closure. I would have wanted you to have that. You also would have been given permission to share the truth of my death with my close friends."

"Thank you," she said softly. "And…I'm glad it never came to that."

There was some silence for a minute as they both looked out onto the city they love.

"A lot has happened in three years." Sherlock's voice cut through the chilly breeze. He glanced down at her.

She held his gaze, which matched the blue grey color of the sky behind him. He was right, of course. But she also hoped he wasn't missing something. "Some things won't ever change though, Sherlock...I hope you see that."

Something clouded over in his eyes, and if Molly didn't know any better, she'd say he was getting emotional. He was hesitant as he spoke again.

"Molly, I…I know I was blind for a long time, but…yes, I do see that, and I'm grateful. Maybe more so than you know."

When Molly saw his eyes travel over her face and settle on her lips for a moment, something came over her. She didn't want to take too much of a headlong leap of faith, but all the same…she needed to take just a tiny jump.

Molly grasped the arm of his coat and lifted herself on tiptoe. She reached the level of his face and pressed her lips against the cool skin on his cheek. And she didn't rush either. She lingered, closing her eyes and letting her lips feel the texture of his skin, making them tingle from the contact. Of course she had a brief moment of fear and doubt that she had made a very wrong move, but that fear was put to rest quickly.

She felt Sherlock's hand come to rest softly on her upper arm, and she felt his cheek shift as his lips lifted it with a smile. Nothing in the world could have felt more beautiful. And when she finally released the pressure of her lips against his cheek, their faces continued hovering beside each other, neither hurrying to move away. They were frozen there for a blissful minute.

"I don't want to hurt anyone again, Molly," he whispered, and she could feel his warm breath on the side of her face. "If Moriarty really is still out there, I want to finish it for good. I don't want to put any of you in that same position you were in years ago. You don't deserve that."

Molly pulled back a bit in order to look into his eyes. "And you don't deserve to be alone. Nobody does. Remember that, Sherlock. I'd do everything and more for you all over again if you needed me to. And I know that any of your friends would say the same. Whatever happens, whatever is coming, we're in it together."

The adorable crinkle on the bridge of his nose deepened. "What did I ever do?"

"What?"

"To deserve you, I mean." The words were spoken with uncharacteristic warmth, and it literally gave Molly a shiver of happiness to hear.

Her little mouth contorted into a playful smile before saying, "Who ever said you deserve me, Sherlock Holmes?"

His lips spread in a smile as well, and he chuckled while turning away; away from the edge. That was enough looking down at the past for one day. Time to move forward.

Molly began walking with him back toward the door. "Shall we come back next year? Perhaps we should continue the tradition."

"If you like. I'm a bit behind, though. You've been commemorating the event for years now."

"True. I had a nice little routine for those other years. I used to come up here with your coffee."

"My coffee?" he asked with a laugh.

"Yep. I'd get your coffee, just how you like it, and I'd come up here with it and think for a while. Then when I was ready to go back inside, I'd pour it out on the roof."

"Tsk tsk, wasting perfectly good coffee…I'm surprised at you, Dr. Hooper," he teased.

"It was a symbol, you git! You weren't there to have it, so I poured it out in your honor. Shut up! I thought it was nice!" She laughed and smacked his arm.

"No more wasting coffee now that I'm back. In the future I'll thank you to let me drink the coffee you bring up here."

"Well you'd better be there then…if only for the coffee."

His gaze softened as he opened the door to exit the rooftop. "Mm…only for the coffee."

They went through the door and down the stairs and there was some silence between them for a moment. Them Molly had an idea, and smiled to herself as she said over her shoulder, "Sherlock?"

"Hmm?"

"Fancy some chips?"

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked it! See you around, and let me know what you thought! ;)


End file.
